Turkoglu Not Happy About Wearing a Mask

According to BC ... no mask, no play for Hedo. I really hope this doesn't drag into some pointless drama now. He better be back playing this Sunday.

The Raptors have invested US$53-million in Turkoglu, and part of the contract that the small forward signed states that he is subject to the professional opinions of the Raptors' medical staff.

In this case, that means wearing a mask for six weeks. In club president and general manager Bryan Colangelo's words, unless the medical staff's opinion changes today, it will be "mandatory" for Turkoglu to sport a mask.

"It's pretty simple: He's going to have to wear the mask," Colangelo said. "If the doctors are saying it's to protect him from further damage, possibly impaired vision, there's too much at stake."

At one point during his session with the media, Turkoglu said he would sign a waiver clearing the Raptors of any responsibility should he suffer another injury.

"There's no such waiver that would exist," Colangelo said.

Colangelo said he planned to talk about the situation further with Turkoglu and the medical staff today. However, without a change in recommendation, Turkoglu will not be allowed to play without a mask.

Man, wtf is Turk being such a hard ass on this whole mask thing. A bunch of players have been able to play with a mask on in recent years without it affecting their performance. Hopefully this won't turn into some big drama.

All evidence shows Turk has always been a team guy, he's been called the glue, although that may just be because it's in his name. Anyway, he'll be wearing that mask without a doubt. Not sure why he's being 10 years old about this but I hope we aren't just 1/10 into his contract realising he is all goof and no glue. Also, we won't see him in the paint much with those facial injuries. Expect him to avoid battles.

All evidence shows Turk has always been a team guy, he's been called the glue, although that may just be because it's in his name. Anyway, he'll be wearing that mask without a doubt. Not sure why he's being 10 years old about this but I hope we aren't just 1/10 into his contract realising he is all goof and no glue. Also, we won't see him in the paint much with those facial injuries. Expect him to avoid battles.

I wish he would sign that waiver just so he could get injured again and we wouldn't have that retarded contract on our hands. On top of all this now he's going to be wearing a mask which will hinder his piss poor performance even more so.

All evidence shows Turk has always been a team guy, he's been called the glue, although that may just be because it's in his name. Anyway, he'll be wearing that mask without a doubt. Not sure why he's being 10 years old about this but I hope we aren't just 1/10 into his contract realising he is all goof and no glue. Also, we won't see him in the paint much with those facial injuries. Expect him to avoid battles.

I think BC learned his lesson with Garbo to do what's right for the team and to stop taking big risks like allowing an injured player to be playing all while risking farther damage to an already existing injury.

Also 53 miions for 5 years compared to 12 millions for 3 years, is alot harder to risk.

According to Holly MacKenzie (via Twitter), Turk was practicing with the mask today, in preparation for tomorrow. Looks like he's resigned to the fact that he has to wear it, and will play. That's good news.

I just talked to Hedo the other day. The language in the contract is pretty explicit. If he plays without the mask, he'll be violating his contract and will give me grounds to void it. Because I'm a real asshole when I want to be.

I just talked to Hedo the other day. The language in the contract is pretty explicit. If he plays without the mask, he'll be violating his contract and will give me grounds to void it. Because I'm a real asshole when I want to be.

I wonder what BC means there is no waiver. I am sure a good lawyer could draw up some papers that would abrogate the contract if Hedo got injured in the same spot again. Unless the cba has some non-override clause. And I am sure Hedo/his agent/wife would balk when it came down to the short strokes.

I am concerned that he now has a built-in excuse if his not so consistent play gets lousier.

His contract states that he must abide by the decisions of the team doctors.

Sure, I could amend the contract. All it takes is a couple weeks and a few lawyers. But I don't want to. The MLSE doesn't want to. Why would I put a $55 million asset at risk when I have all the leverage?

I gave Hedo three options:

1) Sit out for 6 weeks until it heals and look like a complete asshole in front of his teammates.